Dawn lost her husband to Alzheimer's and doesn't want her sons to have the same fate

Dawn Revere, 52, shared a deep love with her husband. As they both looked forward to their golden years of retirement, Dawn couldn't help but notice little things about her husband's behavior which didn't make sense. His driving habits became erratic as he tried to make left-hand turns from the middle lane.

As she read up on what could be the culprit of her husband's behavior, everything pointed to early-onset Alzheimer's. After he admitted his troubles with keeping things straight at work, Dawn made an appointment with the Banner Alzheimer's Institute and walked out in shock as she learned her husband indeed had early-onset Alzheimer's.

Only 50 years old, he looked too young to have the dreaded disease. "This experience caused me to be an emotional wreck, but I knew I couldn't fall apart," Dawn said. "I was his rock. I did everything I could to protect him and give him the best care possible." She quit her job to spend as much quality time with him as possible in the face of his rapid decline that spanned four years. He died June 17, 2013 – four years to the day he was diagnosed. 

Her sons, 28 and 31, saw firsthand their father become a shell of his former self. But they tried to assist Dawn in any way possible to help him be comfortable as his quality of life deteriorated.

Dawn joined the Alzheimer's Prevention Registry because she's experienced the enormous toll the disease takes on families and can't bear the thought of one of her sons developing this disease in the future.